Shloka 18

Abhaya-Itihāsa: Karma, Indriyas, and the Non-sensory Brahman

Brāhmaṇī–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

तेषामन्योन्यभक्षाणां सर्वेषां देहचारिणाम्‌ । अनिनिर्वेश्वानरो मध्ये सप्तधा दीव्यतेडन्तरा

Transliteration

teṣām anyonyabhakṣāṇāṁ sarveṣāṁ dehacāriṇām | aninirveśvānaro madhye saptadhā dīvyate ’ntarā ||

Translation

Vāyu dit : «Parmi ces souffles vitaux —qui se soutiennent les uns les autres et circulent dans le corps de tous les êtres— demeure le feu Vaiśvānara dans la région centrale. Établi au milieu (dans la région du nombril, siège de Samāna), ce feu intérieur brille sous sept formes distinctes.»

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Plural

• अन्योन्यभक्षाणाम्: of those that feed on one another / mutually dependent for sustenance
• अन्योन्यभक्षाणाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्योन्य-भक्ष
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• सर्वेषाम्: of all
• सर्वेषाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• देहचारिणाम्: of those moving/operating in the body
• देहचारिणाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देह-चारिन्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• अनिनिर्वेश्वानरः: the Vaishvanara fire (digestive fire) established as the fire-abode
• अनिनिर्वेश्वानरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि-निर्वेश-वैश्वानर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मध्ये: in the middle
• मध्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मध्य

• सप्तधा: sevenfold
• सप्तधा: Prakara
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सप्तधा

• दीव्यते: shines / is resplendent / plays forth
• दीव्यते: Kriya
• Type: Verb
• Root: दिव्
• Form: Present, Atmanepada, 3rd, Singular

• अन्तरा: within / in between
• अन्तरा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्तरा

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• वैश्वानर अग्नि (Vaiśvānara Agni)
• प्राणवायु (the vital airs, implicitly the five)
• समान वायु (Samāna vāyu, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches an inner-physiological and yogic ethic: life is sustained by interdependent vital forces (prāṇas), and at their center the Vaiśvānara fire—digestive/metabolic intelligence—operates as a sevenfold radiance. It frames bodily life as an ordered, sacred system where balance (especially of Samāna at the navel) supports health, restraint, and disciplined living.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is explaining the internal functioning of the vital airs within embodied beings. He describes how the prāṇas support one another and how, in their central locus, the Vaiśvānara fire shines sevenfold—linking bodily processes to a broader dharmic and cosmological understanding.